McGill Creek

River Description

McGill Creek is the sister creek  of Roaring Creek and you can almost perform the same shuttle for both . McGill is harder and it is advise to get Roaring under your belt first.

The Put-in:

The put-in is located at the small bridge on Hendon Rd .

 

The Take-out:

The take-out is on Coulterville Rd right off Hwy 27, near the Hamilton county/ Rhea county line and is a good place to meet up. I prefer 3 cars for the McGill shuttle ,you will drive over Roaring to leave one car and if  at McGill once you are at the put-in, and it looks too low, well you can punt and head over to Roaring Creek an not miss a beat.

The Gauges:( and there are two we painted so hang tight while I explain why)

1st gauge:

We painted a gauge at the Couterville Bridge  I prefer 8FT

This will help you get a game plan, because just up stream 3 friggin creeks come in and can trick you, Sale Creek, Roaring Creek and McGill come in. so you want an educated guess when setting shuttle, or need to head to Richland Creek if it's below 8ft

2nd Gauge:

The 2nd Gauge is at the McGill put-in ,you would like to have 1foot on the readings on the bridge, you can run it lower but it is like slam dancing with Pittsburg Steelers until you get to the gorge. We have done it a lot to stay off the Ocoee but don't say I didn't warn you. We have paddled up to 3.5ft and it can go higher , but you need to know the lines, because the eddys will be gone at a higher level.

Internet gauge:

CLICK HERE

The flavor of McGill

McGill is a boat beater ,and paddle breaker the river bed is at the right angle to set you you for a smack before you realized it came up on you so fast. More than one group has hiked out, and if you need to, look on river left while in the gorge, there is an old mining road to hike out on. Some have b*tched about the 2 mile paddle in and the 2 mile paddle out of flat water. It seems most today are into instant gratification. If your are truly into creeking you will love this run. Once in the gorge it doesn't stop and you need to be in mental and physical shape and have Class V skills, At good water levels it is non-stop.

The Major Rapids:

Tooth-pick

Once in the gorge you will come to tooth-pick, it's a little over 10 ft tall, and a river wide ledge, that you can see the bottom of it. Well this might be the most dangerous one on the river. RUN IT FAR RIVER RIGHT. On river left is a sieve that holds trees, and if you cut it out, another tree comes right back. It has messed many paddlers up and almost killed one in our group.

Booger:

You rock on with your paddling buddies smokin' and jokin' then the river tightens up and you are at Booger. It looks much harder than it is, but the approach is somewhat hard, and a hole can be waiting on you. The trick is to power hard with a somewhat right angle and paddle with faith. The walk is easy

 

              

                                               Cumnock Falls     Video shot from Steep Creekin"

Cumnock Falls:

You will paddle just a ways and see some killer waterfalls on the left. This is your benchmark for Cumnock Falls. Cumnock Falls starts out as a narrow approach , that slides down a 60 degree slide and to a shelf that you land upon, and use to turn your boat, then accelerate out of , and run a 6 foot ledge. The rapid is good practice for Sunshine on the Green.

50-50

The next rapid  coming up is a  sticky hole that is on river right, this thing has kicked more arse than Mike Tyson. It is a narrow slot that runs into a boiling mass , than runs out to a  1/2 a boat length boil to an undercut that should be on Soddy Creek. If you have a first timer , their chance of swimming is comical, if you are in a sadistic group. We would never let them know what was coming and we would be ready for a swimmer. It was our initiation to McGill. Right before they went under we would yell "Get-u-Some!"

          

                                                50-50 Rapid      Video shot from Steep Creekin"

                                                             Paddler Mark Cumnock

 

At high water it is a safe bet to run river left. Scouting is prudent on the left at high water.

McGill Creek Falls:

Is a clean drop that is run on river left. Big Clean and Fun.

 

Now the run out...there might be some trees

 

                 

                                                      McGill Creek Falls     Video shot from Steep Creekin"